Texas Towns Test Oil and Gas Supremacy on Fracking

As the first municipal fracking ban in Texas takes effect, its passage has spurred other towns to consider similar challenges to the supremacy of the state's oil and gas industry.

Denton's ban is effective Tuesday. The community of Reno is taking steps toward what its mayor believes will be an outright ban, after earthquakes have rattled the area west of Fort Worth. In April, Reno limited disposal well activity to operators who can prove the injections won't cause earthquakes.

In at least two other towns, residents are pushing officials to ban fracking or protect water sources.

The issue touches on property rights that are a part of Texas' cultural fabric, but the desire to develop hydrocarbons is strong in a state that leads the nation in oil and gas development.